RE: COVID FINANCIAL SUPPORT PACKAGES – UPDATE NO.16 – FIFTH GRANT UNDER THE SELF EMPLOYED INCOME SUPPORT SCHEME

Although the economy is beginning to reopen, the government are still supporting businesses that are struggling due to the ongoing Covid pandemic through a number of continued Financial Support Packages. 

In particular, we want to draw your attention to the fifth grant under the Self Employed Income Support Scheme which is now open for applications. 

However, it is important to note that the details of this grant differ from the previous four grants.

This fifth grant is available to eligible traders where their business profits have been impacted by Coronavirus between 1 May 2021 and 30 September 2021, provided they meet the specific criteria detailed within Stage 1 – Stage 3 below.

Claims must be made on or before 30 September 2021.

Stage 1
In order to be eligible, traders must be either self employed, or a member of a partnership and they must have traded in both the 2019/20 and 2020/21 tax years.

Stage 2
Traders must also have:
– submitted their 2019/20 tax return on or before 2 March 2021,
– trading profits must be no more than £50,000, and
– trading profits must be at least equal to your non-trading income.

If an individual is not eligible based on the trading profits in the 2019/20 tax return, HMRC will look back at the previous tax years.

Stage 3
If a trader is making a claim, they must inform HMRC during the application process that they intend to keep trading in 2021/22 and that they reasonably believe that there will be a significant reduction in their trading profits due to the impact of Covid-19 between 1 May and 30 September 2021.

For further information to decide if this condition is satisfied, please CLICK HERE.

What you’ll need to make your claim

In most cases, you’ll need to provide 2 turnover figures when you make your claim. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will use these to work out how much you’ll get.

You do not need turnover figures if you started trading in 2019 to 2020 and did not trade in the following tax years:

• 2018 to 2019
• 2017 to 2018
• 2016 to 2017

To find out how to work out your turnover figures CLICK HERE.

How to claim

To start your claim for the fifth SEISS grant, please CLICK HERE. 

Please note that if an amendment to your 2019/20 tax return is made on or after the 3 March 2021 which lowers the grant amount you’re eligible for, you’ll need to tell HMRC within 90 days and you may need to pay back some or all of the grant. 

Return to your claim

If you need to return to your claim, you can:

• check the status of your payment
• update your bank details if we have asked you to
• check how much you got for previous grants
• check to see if you think the grant amount is too low

After you’ve claimed

HMRC will check your claim and pay your grant into your bank account within 6 working days. HMRC will send an email when your payment is on its way.

Do not contact HMRC unless it has been more than 10 working days since you made your claim and you have not received your payment in that time.

If your business recovers after you’ve claimed, your eligibility will not be affected as this is based on your reasonable belief that your trading profits would have been significantly reduced at the time you made your claim. However, you must keep evidence to support the basis of your claim.

You need to tell HMRC if you:

• made a claim in error as you were not eligible for a grant
• made a mistake reporting your turnover in your claim which means you are entitled to a lower grant than you received
• later realise you should have reported a different turnover figure in your claim which means you are entitled to a lower grant than you received
• amended any of your tax returns on or after 3 March 2021 which means you’re no longer eligible or are entitled to a lower grant than you received
• would like to make a voluntary repayment

Records you need to keep

You must keep a copy of all records in line with normal self-employment record keeping requirements, including the:

• amount claimed
• claim reference number

If you’re currently trading but have reduced demand:

You must keep any evidence that your business has had reduced activity, capacity or demand due to COVID-19 at the time you made your claim, such as:

• business accounts showing reduction in activity compared to previous years
• records of reduced or cancelled contracts or appointments
• a record of dates where you had reduced demand or capacity due to government restrictions

If your business is temporarily unable to trade:

You must keep evidence if your business has been unable to trade due to coronavirus, such as:

• a record of dates where you had to close due to government restrictions
• NHS testing and tracing communications – if you’ve been instructed to self-isolate in-line with NHS guidelines and are unable to work from home
• a letter or email from the NHS asking you to shield
• test results if you’ve been diagnosed with COVID-19
• letters or emails from your child’s school with information on closures or reduced hours.

We hope the above is clear. However, if you have any queries regarding this scheme or would like any assistance during the process of your application, please do not hesitate to contact us on 028 417 64540.